'I leave a lot of freedom to my actors because they ultimately become the character; for an instant they live somebody else's life. So they are in the best position to know how the character breathes, eats, listens, talks, ... This is the way I like to be directed myself so I relate better with actors, who have the same approach.'

This has to be one of the best of the recent crop of short films. Inspired by a short story written by master of suspense and doyen of British directors Alfred Hitchcock, discovered and adapted for screen by Sylvie Bolioli, it is pumped full of atmosphere; by pace, by suspense, by sound and by light, with a cast that play to the tensions and carry it off superbly, saving the relief for the end. GAS is the ultimate nightmare for people who don't like going to the dentist. If this is what Bolioli creates for a short film, her first feature when it comes should be unmissable.

Congratulations on GAS. Nicely atmospheric – Do you think Hitch would have liked it?
Thank you. It's difficult to say. I can only hope so. GAS is a story he wrote when he was 20 years old in 1919. So the fact that it was made into a film almost a century later and people are still talking about it must be a warm feeling wherever he is. I didn't try to make a Hitchcock movie. There's only one and will ever be one Hitchcock. This is my take on his story. But I tried my best to honour his name.

What’s your backstory in filmmaking Sylvie – you are American I think?
I am half French half Italian! Well, I haven't been to film school. I have been acting since I was a child. I wrote, directed, produced and acted in my first play when I was nine. Then I joined a proper Youth theatre. After that I did business studies, which I hated; and when I finished I went on to study drama.

Ironically, it is in fact through my business and marketing background that I had my first opportunity to direct for the camera. I was in Mexico at the time and I directed radio and TV commercials there. It was my first experience behind the camera and I loved it. So when I came back to London my mind was set to direct a short film and that's how I started.

What got you started on GAS – how did it all kick off?
I was reading a biography of Hitchcock I had got out of the library. GAS was in there. I liked it and decided that was the film I was going to make.

Was getting script clearance an easy job – I mean how did the Hitchcock estate view the idea?
It was a long procedure but I didn't have any problems as such. It was just a question of tracking down who owned the rights. GAS was originally published in the in-house newsletter of WT Henley, the company where Hitchcock used to work when he wrote the story. So I contacted WT Henley first. They didn't hold the rights though.

I then enquired directly to the Hitchcock Estate; and out of the blue I had a phone call from Universal Studios in LA asking me what it was all about. That was in 2000 I think and at the time I felt quite nervous about talking to Universal. They still hold the rights to some of Hitchcock's works. But it turned out that the rights belonged to Pat Hitchcock O'Connell, his daughter. Pat gave the go ahead and I got the license through the Hitchcock Estate.

What’s the story you tell in GAS? – best not give away the surprises!
GAS is about the surreal anxieties and imagined horrors of a woman's trip to the Dentist. I don't know about you. But despite all the anaesthetics we have today, I still hate going to the Dentist!! And I had also read a couple of years ago about the story of a doctor who killed himself after being sacked for stealing drugs to help him overcome his phobia of dentists...!

The script was from a short story by Hitchcock – how did you adapt it for filming?
I tend to be visual rather than working with words. So I storyboarded the film before I actually wrote the script. I tried to explore the original story a little further. So I took the concept and added some new elements within that concept.

Locations were always going to be important for atmosphere – where and how did you find them?
The original story was set in Montmartre in Paris. Because I live in London it was more practical to shoot in London. Soho was the ideal choice. It is easy to find really atmospheric locations there. Good lighting, wetting the pavement and a fog machine helped to set the mood.

I anticipated difficulties with the prostitutes' exterior scenes, shooting in the middle of the red light district at night. I tried to see if I could recreate Soho in a studio. But building a set with sex shops and neon lights was very costly. So we went back to Walker's Ct and Brewer St and made a deal with a shop owner to hire his booth for one hour. That was the scene with Valerie Leon. To my amazement most of the shop proprietors were in fact really cool about it.

The most difficult location must have been the Builder's scene. We had found that great back street behind the Astoria theatre near Tottenham Ct Rd. But we found out on the day that we only had a couple of hours to build the set and shoot, as we hadn't counted with the place being packed with concert goers!! So I had to change the scene slightly from what was storyboarded and it turned out all right in the end.

Westminster Council was very co-operative and sorted out all the permits for us.

Casting for playing virtually silent must have been tricky – how did you go about it?
I knew that it was crucial to find an actress who could express emotions with her face rather than with words. So we auditioned the actors in groups.

One of the scenes they had to enact was the Prostitutes and Drag Queen scene where "the Drag Queen blows a puff of smoke right into the Woman's face. She flinches and turns away only to be caught by the scornful laughs of a couple of haggard Prostitutes".

Another scene we used is the moment when the Woman, who has been running away for her life, hears and sees the Builder. She goes through a lot of emotion shifts in a very short time: fear, relief, horror, ... I paid particular attention to the changes in the actresses' facial expressions and body language.

That's how we cast Johanna Mohs. We didn't audition Tony Hadley or Valerie Leon of course as I was too pleased to have them on board. Valerie and I had met previously to talk about a feature film, which I would like to make. When GAS came along she was quite keen to get involved. As I was still looking for an actor to play the Dentist-cum-Builder, one of the cast members - Jerome Blake, who plays a Thug - mentioned he could pass the script on to Tony personally. Tony liked it and joined the team.

I understand a lot of goodwill was involved –but how much cash did you raise?
I would say that the film cost about £50,000. Half of it was given in kind by the industry. I raised about £3,000 from family and friends, re-mortgaged my house and used credit cards to raise an additional £22,000.

Facility houses were very supportive throughout the whole experience, which included some re-shoots. If I am allowed to mention their names, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Arri Media and Arri Lighting, Fuji and Kodak, Fluimotionfilms, Soho Images, IBF, Trucut, Warwick Sound and Rochman Landau.

I would also like to add that not only cast and crew were not paid. They also paid for their own travel expenses. So thank you to everyone. And since GAS, I am pleased that I have actually had the opportunity to provide some paid work for some of the crew who did a great job on my short.

You chose to shoot on film - the most expensive option – why that route?
It took me years to get GAS off the ground and complete it. When I started with it, digital technology was not as developed as it is now. We were just starting to hear about HD. I didn't think at the time that I could achieve the look I was after with DigiBeta. So I went for 35mm.

Whereabouts did you shoot and what schedule did you allow to capture what you needed?
The film was originally scheduled over 8 days in February. Due to a certain number of issues, we couldn't complete in February. We had to come back in July to finish a scene we had started to film in a house, which was up for sale. But we couldn't do the exteriors in July because they're all nights and nights were too short in the summer time. So that was scheduled for October.

A week before the shoot or so, one of our cast members broke her leg. We decided to go ahead with the October shoot, as Tony Hadley was already booked; we came back in November to shoot one last scene and finally wrapped.

With film you would need a full crew – how many people involved altogether?
Since we had a total of 15 unpaid shooting days, some crew could only offer their services for a day. Others could afford to stay longer. In total, over 80 people were credited, including post-production, plus the Heads of Departments who were more or less the same throughout.

All that film running through the gate burns money - What shooting ratio did you achieve?
I think on average it must have been 15 to 1.

What’s the Sylvie Bolioli style when directing – what’s the atmosphere and how did you choose to direct?
I'm not sure about that one. I guess you have to ask the cast and crew. What I could say is that I like to arrive on set with a well prepared skeleton of what I want. Every frame was storyboarded to the last detail. But I think that one has to leave some room for magic to happen on set.

There were some magic moments; I had planned a clash at a street corner between the Woman and a dog. When Roger Eaton lit the scene, he saw the shadows clashing before the characters. That was fantastic.

Another moment was a suggestion from cameraman Trevor Forrest. We were shooting the fight scene in the brothel where two Thugs drag the Woman away. Trevor saw a beautiful frame shot from the floor above where the shadows of the banister created a particular claustrophobic jail atmosphere. That again wasn't storyboarded. It happened on the day.

In terms of directing actors, every actor is different and requires a different approach. But because I am an actress myself and I favour method acting, I would tend to give the actor point A and point Z and let the actor find within himself / herself the right emotions, which will lead to the desired outcome.

I leave a lot of freedom to my actors because they ultimately become the character; for an instant they live somebody else's life. So they are in the best position to know how the character breathes, eats, listens, talks, ...

This is the way I like to be directed myself so I relate better with actors, who have the same approach. With Johanna Mohs, who is playing the central character, we spent quite a lot of time discussing who this woman was. We pictured a power career woman and decided she was a lawyer. A Sex & the City kind of girl. She earns a lot of money and can afford a dentist in Harley St. But at the end of the day, you can still be the most powerful person with the largest bank account on the planet, you can still have fears, anxieties and phobias.

Once we had determined that, I let Johanna play her character the way she wanted to.
Tony's part was more straightforward and required to be acted plain. The atmosphere with Tony around was quite relaxed; we could hear a few tunes coming from the green room!

Lighting is critical for atmosphere in this kind of high tension film, in fact I think you had two DoPs, which is a bit unusual– who was working all the magic for you?
Both DoPs did a fantastic job. One had the difficult job to create the look. That was Roger. Steve Brooke Smith had then the hard task of keeping continuity with the look.

Everything in the frame was important to Hitch, he had an incredible eye for detail – who did you have looking after design, costume, makeup and so forth?
Yes. I did spend a lot of time on detail. The colour red was important all through the film and only used in specific situations. The story intercuts between reality and fantasy.

With Roger we made the decision to use 400T Fuji stock pushed two stops (rated 1600) combined with a red enhancer filter to give the fantasy scenes a grainier and darker look, drawing the eye to the red colour.

Verity Scott, our Production Designer had the arduous task of wetting the streets to give it a colder look, emphasizing the isolation of the Woman.

Andrew Joslin, Costume Designer, Peter Grimshaw, Hair Stylist and Jo Tuplin, Make-Up created the Woman's classy look: tight business suit with short skirt, high heels, handbag and briefcase with trendy hair style and make-up.

Reality scenes were shot on Kodak 100T with a black promist filter to create a warmer look. We chose a modern high-tech Dentist surgery to enhance the contrast between the sordidness and creepiness of the imagined world, and the clean almost clinical reality.

Roger was determinant in the final look of the movie, as he suggested we use bleach bypass to give it a more sinister feel with higher contrasts and slightly desaturated colours.

Hitch loved to make a cameo appearance in his pics – were you tempted yourself?
Oh yes, I'm playing the junkie, the one who gets a fix. But as I said, my background is acting, so I will always keep it up.

And so to the edit – where the story really gets told – how was the telling of it?
The idea was to constantly switch from one dimension to the other: reality vs. fantasy. Everything, which happens in the fantasy sections, comes from a detail, a person or a situation actually encountered in the reality. So we had the challenge to place each item in the right place for the story to flow. I think that my editor Macbeth Clark has done a good job with it.

How about passing on some of the techniques you favour, the things you feel worked out very well for you on this film?
Any pointers to things you feel filmmakers need to think hard about?
I am not too sure. Apart from a little short done for fun on mini DV as part of the 48 Hours Challenge, GAS is my first film. So I am a beginner myself.
What I do think about for example, is why I move the camera or why I keep it static. I don't just move it for the sake of moving it or because it looks funky. For example when the Woman is about to have a nasty encounter with a bull-terrier I tracked against the Woman to create a sense of danger coming from the front. In another shot the camera is static, waiting for the Woman. Danger comes from above. The shot is 15 seconds long and the Woman starts very small in the frame at the far end of the road with a 12 or a 14 mm lens I think. The idea was to emphasize the vulnerability of the Woman before she gets hit by a blinding light.

What’s next on the Bolioli horizon then – what’s in the pipeline?
Regarding GAS as I mentioned I am screening it on the market at Cannes. I have been asked to do some talks at Media and Film Universities about the film, which is a great way to promote it as well. I have had quite a lot of enquiries from the Tony Hadley fan base in various countries. So I am planning to release a DVD with plenty of bonus material towards the end of the year called "Dial 'G' for GAS". I have about 30 hours of tapes shot for "The making of…" to go through. I am hoping to recoup some of the money I put in and repay a few bricks from my house!

As far as other projects are concerned, I am lined up to direct a feature film called "Pandora's Box" in co-production with Olympia Films. It's a gangster thriller in the film noir genre. Quite interesting from a woman's point of view. So we'll see.

The film seems to have caught on very quickly with press interest – what coverage have you got so far?
In terms of public screenings, it's only been shown once as part of the 'Shoot First' screenings at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh. GAS got quite a large coverage in The Scotsman. They interviewed me and actually did a good review after the screening. I was also asked to take part to a live show called Radio Cafe on BBC Radio Scotland during which they played a clip from the film. Last December, a still from the film won the DV-User screenshot competition. DV-User is planning to do an article in their printed magazine.

Following an industry screening, which went very well, with attendees from companies such as Working Titles and Focus Features, I was asked to do an interview for the BAFTA magazine "Academy". And the Fuji magazine "Exposure", wishes to write something about it.

I haven't really done any press release myself yet. I am waiting to have a market screening at Cannes this year.